On April 16 the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, the IC² Institute, and the Center for Science and Practice of Sustainability will host an event with Alfred Watkins, the Science and Technology (S&T) Program Coordinator at the World Bank. Mr. Watkins will be discussing the lessons learned from the "Global Forum: Building Science, Technology and Innovation Capacity for Sustainable Growth and Poverty Reduction," which he recently convened at the Bank. He will speak to the Bank's role in STI capacity building, drawing upon the example of assisting Rwanda, specifically President Kigame, lift itself from the tragedy of genocide and achieve its development goals.

As the S&T Program Coordinator, Mr. Watkins is responsible for developing and helping to implement the World Bank's global S&T capacity building program. Prior to assuming this assignment, Mr. Watkins helped to develop the World Bank's S&T program in the former Soviet Union and produced S&T policy notes and project proposals in Kazakhstan, Latvia, and Russia. Mr. Watkins also led the World Bank team that designed and implemented an innovative non-commercial risk guarantee package for the Sea Launch Commercial Space Launch project.

Prior to joining the Bank, Mr. Watkins was an Assistant Professor at the University of Texas at Austin. In addition, he served as an economic advisor to Congressman (now United States Senator) Charles E. Schumer and as a Senior Economist on the staff of the United States Congress' Joint Economic Committee.

The World Bank is a vital source of financial and technical assistance to developing countries around the world. It is made up of two unique development institutions owned by 185 member countries—the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA). Each institution plays a different but supportive role in its mission of global poverty reduction and the improvement of well-being. The IBRD focuses on middle income and creditworthy poor countries, while IDA focuses on the poorest countries in the world. Together they provide low-interest loans, interest-free credit and grants to developing countries for education, health, infrastructure, communications and many other purposes.